The Price We Pay
by propensityforpyrotechnics
Summary: Fabian Prewett could never have predicted this simple guard duty would lead to the most terrifying battle of his life. Read and review please.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Fabian fidgeted. "Do you reckon we actually have to sit here all night?"

"Course we do. Dumbledore's orders."

"No one's coming. They've deserted this place."

"We gotta keep a watch anyway. Now shut up."

Fabian groaned and rolled over, pulling his cloak tighter around him. His legs ached from being sitting in the magically extended hollow of this stupid tree for so long. They knew the Death Eaters had switched their meeting place months ago, this small wood was too close to London. In fact, if Fabian listened hard enough, he thought he could almost hear the rumbling of cars heading home after a long day of work. Fabian wished he was heading home. But the end of his shift was far away yet.

Fabian groaned again. Gideon scowled at him; "Please be quiet. If the Death Eaters turn up, they'll hear your whingeing from a mile away."

"We've been here for _hours_. Can I stretch my legs?"

"For the third time, no. Our orders are to sit tight and keep watch."

Fabian grumbled some more. He wanted to go home. It was his nephew Charlie's birthday. He knew Molly would have cooked a culinary masterpiece for the occasion. Just thinking about the food made his mouth water.

"Fabian, would you please shut up? Stop groaning!"

"That wasn't me you nitwit, that was my stomach!"

Gideon peered back out of the crack in the trunk. Fabian could tell he was suppressing a smile. Fabian tapped his foot impatiently. He half wished some Death Eaters would turn up, just to give him something to do. "Got any food?" he asked. Gideon pressed his head against the inside of the tree, looking frustrated. After a moment, he pulled a packet of Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans from his pocket. "Thanks bro, you're the best."

"Do you promise to shut up for a bit?"

"Course not."

Fabian ripped open the packet and inhaled the sweet scent of candy. He carefully selected his first Bean, which turned out to be a rather delicious toffee. "Want one?" he asked Gideon. Gideon couldn't resist, he was a sucker for candy, and the Prewett brothers had a long standing competition on who could get the first bogey flavoured Bean. "Strawberry" said Gideon, chewing on a light pink one.

"I think this might be a- no wait, spinach."

"Gross, dude. I got chocolate."

"Ooh, mint. They're Charlie's favourite."

"Do you reckon they'll start the party without us?" asked Gideon, peering out of the trunk at the fading light.

"Course they will, Gid" replied Fabian, through a mouthful of different flavoured beans. "It's already seven o'clock, and we're here for another three hours. Little tyke'll want to go to bed soon."

"I suppose. Molly'll wait up for us though, she always does." Gideon put his hand back in the box. The next half an hour passed this way, with a continuous selection of different beans. Fabian was unfortunate enough to come across one that had a definite soapy taste to it, which made him cough and splutter for a few minutes.

"Quiet Fab," said Gideon suddenly, with his eye pressed against the crack in the tree.

"What is it Gid?" he asked, forcing himself to swallow, and promptly beginning to choke again.

"I said quiet! I heard something."

Fabian listened for a moment. "Nothing there Gideon. Just a squirrel or something."

"I don't think so" he replied. Gideon pulled out his was and tapped the inside of the tree. A large circle melted away, leaving room for someone to climb through. Gideon clambered out of it, his wand raised.

"Come on, Gideon. I didn't hear anything. Look! There's one bean left, it's your turn."

"I'll be back in a sec," muttered Gideon, and he strode towards a clump of trees near them, and peered through it.

"I'm going to eat it!" cried Fabian at his twin's back. "Look, I'm eating it now!"

Gideon moved out of Fabian's view as he popped the last bean in his mouth and began to chew. "Ugh," he said, "What _is_ that? It's disgusting. I think... I think it might be a-" Fabian gasped. "Gideon! I got it! The bogey flavoured bean!"

Fabian stuck his head through the hole in the tree trunk. "Gideon! The bogey bean! I got the bogey bean!" Gideon didn't reply, so he called again, louder this time. Fabian heard a crackling sound nearby, and turned his head towards a person approaching through the trees. "_There_ you are," he said. "I've got it, I've got the bean!" The person took another two steps before Fabian realised it wasn't Gideon. The stranger was wearing a mask. Fabian reached for his wand, but it was tucked beneath his cloak. Before his fingers had even touched it, the tree exploded. Fabian was thrown forwards, and landed with a crunch ten feet away. Out of instinct, he rolled, and the spell from the attacker landed where he had been a moment ago. Fabian plunged his hand into his cloak, and slashed the air as he stood up. The stranger crumpled, unconscious. Fabian ran, pushing himself into the trees.

"Gideon!" he called, blasting bushes out of his way. "Gideon! Where are you?" A flash of light to his left made him turn and sprint towards it. He heard Gideon's voice as he tried to Stun someone. Fabian burst into a clearing, to find Gideon fighting two masked attackers. Fabian joined the fray. The attacked were fast, they immediately changed their position, trying to separate the brothers. Fabian found himself duelling a huge Death Eater, whose spells could knock him of his feet if he let one by. Jets of light soared across the clearing, tearing apart trees as they hit them. A third Death Eater emerged from the darkness, and turned towards Gideon. Fabian pushed himself to fight harder, his brother couldn't fight two on his own.

Gideon raised his wand and cried, "Confringo!". The tree behind the first Death Eater exploded. Splinters rocketed outwards, one of them piercing the Death Eater's chest. He dropped like a stone, and lay still. Fabian felt himself weakening as a fourth Death Eater, the one Fabian had stunned, stumbled through the trees. "Stupefy!" cried Fabian, and his opponent, distracted by the arrival of a colleague, was thrown backwards and landed with a thud, unmoving. Fabian threw a spell at the new Death Eater, whose mask was blown off. Fabian hesitated as he realised this Death Eater was Antonin Dolohov. Dolohov specialised in hits, he killed people the Death Eater's felt were a threat. His ruthlessness and cruelty were unmatched by any other Death Eater, apart from You-Know-Who himself. That hesitation cost Fabian dearly, he heard Dolohov cry, "Petrificus Totalus!" Fabian was thrown backwards. He felt his arm break as he was blasted backwards into a tree. He landed heavily, hitting his head on the exposed tree roots.

"Oi!" he heard someone cry. "You'll pay for that!" Gideon, having dispatched of another Death Eater, rushed towards Dolohov. But Dolohov was too quick for him. "Crucio!" he yelled, before Gideon had raised his wand. Fabian saw his brother fall to the ground, writhing in pain, and screaming at the top of his lungs. Fabian could only watch in horror. "Crucio!" cried Dolohov again, and Gideon screamed, the sound ripping through the woods and tearing through Fabian. Another Death Eater was slowly making his way through the trees towards the clearly. "Five Death Eaters," thought Fabian, "They really wanted us dead." He saw the huge Death Eater he had Stunned being revived by the newcomer and felt his heart sink; all was surely lost now. He tried to struggle, to help his brother, but the Body-Bind curse held him tightly. He could not move a muscle.

Dolohov sauntered to Gideon's shuddering body. "I'm going to kill you, Prewett. You should have never resisted the Dark Lord. He always takes what is his. But you must be punished. I'm going to make it hurt, Prewett. I'm going to make you beg for mercy" Dolohov wiped blood from his lip where he had been hit by Fabian's spell. He had a gleam in his eye, a terrible gleam that Fabian knew would mean suffering and torture. But Fabian had seen what Dolohov and the Death Eaters had not. Gideon's hand was reaching towards his wand, hardly an inch from his fingers. Dolohov was licking his lips, probably running through a list of tortures in his mind, deciding which would bring him the most pleasure. He raised his wand, but as he opened his mouth, Gideon rolled over and shouted, "Impedimenta!" Dolohov froze with his arm still raised, and fell forward. Gideon rolled to avoid being crushed and blasted a Death Eater with a powerful hex. Gideon was moving towards the next Death Eater, standing by his fallen colleague, ready to duel, when Fabian realised the huge Death Eater was missing, he had disappeared as soon as his friend had revived him. Fabian tried desperately to call out, to unlock his throat and scream, when suddenly it was all too late, as the huge Death Eater had re appeared, and was coming up behind Gideon. Gideon seemed to have realised something was amiss, he did a half turn, stopped, and locked eyes with Fabian. That moment seemed to last forever, Fabian felt his heart pounding like it would burst, and Gideon's wand dropped slightly, as though he knew-

The very air exploded. Such heat washed over Fabian that he felt every bit of exposed skin burn, as though fire was scorching it. The wind from the Dark curse rushed over his body, stinging every part of him. His ears were ringing, he could see nothing. And suddenly it was over. The wind stopped, the fire ceased, and the sound was replaced by a deathly silence. "What the hell was that?" he heard one Death Eater ask angrily after a moment.

"Just a bit of fun," said the spell caster.

"You could have killed us all," said another.

"Shut it, you lot," ordered Dolohov. He'd clearly recovered from Gideon's jinx. "Scum's dead, that's what matters."

_Scum_. _Scum's dead_. Gideon. A new fire washed through Fabian, more powerful, and far more painful than any curse, it swept through every vein in his body, flowed through him, and he became angry, more angry than he'd ever been in his life, he felt Gideon, Gideon who was a part of him, an immoveable, inextricable part of him, being torn away, so painful Fabian thought he could feel chunks of himself being torn apart. He could see again, see the Death Eater's examining their wounds, and he could see a body, barely five feet from him, ravaged, red, raw, bleeding, still. Still. Barely recognisable, yet unmistakeable, Fabian could feel who it was by the pull in his stomach, the red behind his eyes, and the way he could suddenly feel a tingling in his fingers and toes. A great roar built inside him, he felt strong, and with a huge cry, he wrenched himself free of the Body Bind curse.

The Death Eater's had no time, Fabian was on his feet, every part of him ached, but the power, the _hatred_, was too strong. He felt himself lose control, the sane part of him fly away after its lost twin. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" he heard himself cry. The huge Death Eater, who had so brutally killed his brother, never stood a chance. The flash of green light blinded Fabian, and when it had cleared, the Death Eater was dead.

What he had done struck him so hard he fell to his knees, spots of light burst in front of his eyes, he barely registered the Death Eater's cry of outrage, he just realised he had fallen next to his brother. Dolohov was turning slowly towards Fabian, the maniacal gleam burning brightly. Fabian reached for his brother's hand and gripped it tightly. He knew it would be quick, Dolohov would not waste time again. The three remaining Death Eaters moved in, enclosing him in a circle, with his back against the trees. They expected him to fight: he would not. Dolohov raised his wand and Fabian closed his eyes. He didn't hear the curse, nor did he see the flash of green light. Fabian was already gone.


End file.
